Gingersnaps the story continues
by Gemsta rox
Summary: This follows the story of Ginger Brown from the story Gingersnaps a few years after the first story ends.
1. Chapter 1  Band Aid

Chapter 1 – Band Aid

"Ginger." That's Sam. He is my ultra perfect, super amazing boyfriend and I couldn't imagine life without him. Well...maybe not ultra perfect – his music taste does leave something to be desired – but he is definitely the kindest person on earth, and also rather good looking. My heart pounded as I rushed down the stairs to the kitchen where he was waiting. Today is my sixteenth birthday, and for a fleeting second when I saw there was no parcel in his hands, I thought he'd actually granted my wish that he not give me any presents this year.

"I have your present at home," he told me, laughing when I rolled my eyes at him exasperated. Evidently it would take another few years to drum into him that I didn't want him to get me presents.

Sam was not well-off and his family's financial situation had not got any better with the credit crunch. There was always the danger that they would have to leave and find work elsewhere, and although I was praying that wouldn't happen; I thought I would understand if they did. Well I hoped I would be understanding anyway, at least until he left. It wouldn't make the situation any easier for him if I broke down in front of him, and I really did want what was best for him, even if that meant leaving me. But that wouldn't happen yet – there money problems had been getting a little better; or at least that was what he'd been telling me.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked, breaking me out of my reverie.

"We have school," I answered automatically. He rolled his eyes.

"After school."

"We have band."

"No we don't – I cancelled it."

"You did what?" Okay now I was worried. Sam never cancelled band. Music was his entire life – I mean he went everywhere with his saxophone and I was sometimes sure he loved music even more than he loved me. Did this mean he would have to leave soon and was making sure that I had the best birthday ever while he was still here? No. I was being completely absurd, and even if he was, I'd promised myself that I'd be calm. I forced myself to breath slowly in and out, trying to calm down the frantic beating of my heart and trying to control my facial expressions.

"Gingersnaps what's wrong?" Clearly I hadn't managed very well.

"Nothing Sam. Don't worry about it. Maybe we could go to the cafe with Emily for a little while, and then maybe come back here?"

"Sure whatever you want. I'm gonna have to leave you at the cafe with Emily for a bit while I go get your present. I would have given it to you this morning but it has to dry." That's good – it sounded as if he'd made my present which hopefully meant he hadn't spent too much on it.

"That's fine. And you really shouldn't have got me a present – I said I didn't want anything. I made that very clear." Or at least I'd thought I had.

"It didn't cost me anything," he promised me. "I made it in school, so unless you're suddenly worried about losing the school money-"

"No no," I cut him off. "That's fine." I stretched up on my tip toes and kissed him. Even with my recent growth spurt, he was still miles taller than me, and this was kind of annoying, but at last he didn't have to bend down anymore. He kissed me back, but not with as much enthusiasm as usual. This bothered me slightly, but I wrote it off as nerves for the science exam waiting for us at school. It was the only GCSE we had left to do before we would be free from school and go to college. I pulled away from him, and looked at the clock, which read that it was twenty minutes to nine. We had to be at school in five minutes.

"Sam we're going to be late," I said and sighed. Time always seemed to pass so quickly when Sam was with me, and I hoped that that would never change. He let go of me, keeping old of only my hand, picked up my school bag from the kitchen table, and slung it over his shoulder.

"I can carry my own bag you know," I said, as I unlocked the door.

"So can I," he said and ran out of the door and down the road. I was vaguely aware of my dad shouting goodbye from the living room as I slammed the door and ran after him. I was not a runner and I quickly grew out of breath. I couldn't see Sam anywhere, and decided to walk the rest of the way to school – the idea of arriving to school all messy on my birthday was definitely not appealing.

I was just walking down the road that led to our school, when a car pulled beside me with the windows rolled down.

"Excuse me," the driver said, "I was wondering if you knew the way to Blueberry Close. I've been driving around for ages."

"I'm sorry. There's no such place..." I trailed off uncertainly.


	2. Chapter 2 Kiss With the Fist

Chapter 2 – Kiss With the Fist

I turned away from the car to continue down the road to school, but got the shock of my life when I saw that a tall dark stranger with scars all over his face had been creeping up on me from behind. I quickly sprung into action but not quite quick enough to stop him from punching me in the cheek. I stood there dazed for a minute unable to think. Honestly, where was Sam when you needed him? I was brought back down to earth when I was rapped sharply over the head. I collapsed onto the floor, and stayed there. I heard a car engine start and shut my eyes hoping that maybe they were going to leave me alone.

"Ginger!" Ah. Here came Sam. Pity - he was a bit late really. I heard footsteps running over to me but didn't open my eyes. I was just so sleepy all of a sudden.

"Gingersnaps?" Sam's voice sounded worried and came from directly above me now. "Can you hear me?" Yes, i wanted to say. I'm fine, but i just couldn't get the words out. I really did feel so sleepy. I couldn't even open my eyes. I felt some fingers gently prising my eyes open, being careful not to hurt me. Everything looked blurry. I could make out another shape next to Sam, which i found weird as I had assumed that he had been alone. I wondered who they were for a split second but the mystery was solved when they spoke.

"She might need to go to medical. She could be concussed," said Emily, my best friend. Sam gently closed my eyes again. I felt safe then, as although her words were far from reassuring about my current state, I knew that if Emily was there, i would be OK. Not that I didn't trust Sam or anything, but he just tended to get worried - he didn't usually do anything about what was worrying him. He left that part for anyone else who might happen to be around. Still, I loved Sam and I took he strength and conviction from this thought to open my eyes.

"Ginger?" Emily asked tentatively but sounding relieved.

"I'm OK," I said, "just shaken."

"Can you get up?" asked Sam worriedly. "I can help you if you need me to." He held out his hand for me. I took it gratefully and he helped me to my feet. I stumbled and he caught me.

"Maybe you two should just stay here while I go fetch help," said Emily as she exchanged a worried look with Sam.

"No, really - I'm fine," I said, and to prove my point, I snatched my hand from Sam's and attempted to walk towards the school gates. Needless to say I failed and fell almost immediately to the floor. "I think I'll wait here after all," I muttered as they both looked at me worriedly again.

Sam waited with me while Emily went and fetched someone. It bugged me slightly that he looked at me with such a worried expression but my head was starting to hurt, and the pain distracted me. So instead of asking him why he was so worried, I rested my head on his shoulder and he started stroking my hair.

"You're going to be ok now, I promise - those men aren't coming back," said Sam gently. "Are you sure you're ok? You look a bit disoriented."

"Well so would you if you'd just been hit twice over the head," I snapped at him, before realizing that it wasnt him I should be angry at. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I know. You're just in pain, but you'll be ok - I'm here now. I guess I shouldn't have run off like that. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault and anyway, I'm almost glad you did run off. Otherwise they might have gotten you too."

"But maybe I would have been able to help you, stop them from hurting you."

"Maybe," I said, "but it doesn't matter now. I'm just glad one of us wasn't hurt."


End file.
